The Minister of Transport has suspended operations of South West Aviation after one of its cargo planes crashed in Juba over the weekend, killing eight people.
In a statement seen by Eye Radio, Madut Biar said the airline company will not be allowed to operate in the country until the cause of its plane crash is established.
Among the nine people on board, six were South Sudanese, two Tajiks and one Ukrainian.
Only one passenger survived, a local.
The cargo plane belonging to South West Aviation crashed into a farm, just hundreds of meters from Referendum residential area.
It was reportedly heading to Wau town in Western Bahr el Ghazal State.
A short video clip of the cargo plane that crashed this morning.
Video Cred| Woja Emmanuel | Eye Radio pic.twitter.com/8rPdTgXpmv
— Eye Radio (@EyeRadioJuba) August 22, 2020
“I suspended the company until the investigation report is presented. All the Antonov An-26 that are flying in South Sudan are all suspended,” Biar said in the statement.
Madut stressed that the government is still unable to identify some bodies of those who perished in the plane crash because their names were not found on the manifest.
The minister said the black box of the plane would be sent to the manufacturer so that its data could be analyzed.
In September 2018, a chartered Let-410 UVP belonging to the same aviation company crashed into Lake Yirol, killing at least 20 people, including an Anglican Bishop.
It is the second private commercial plane to crash this month.
Last week, a 5Y-SAV aircraft hired by Nile Hope organization reportedly hit a tree, nose-dived to the ground, then turned upside down and crashed.
An expectant woman has reportedly miscarried after the commercial plane crashed in New Fangak, Jonglei State.